Against Human Trafficking Using Theatre

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Human trafficking is one of the major problem in the Province of East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) today. Based on report by Tempo magazine on March 20-26, 2017, there are about 1.2 million illegal NTT workers in Malaysia where 69 percent are women who are vulnerable to trafficking.

In view of this fact, the SVD of Ende Province who are concerned with the victims takes the issue seriously in the Provincial Chapter of 2015. Subsequently, under the coordination of the JPIC Commission, the Ende Province has done things the handling of victims and prevention efforts. Regarding prevention efforts, the SVD seminarians are deployed to basic communities, to spread awareness of the risks of human trafficking. Meanwhile, regarding the handling of victims, Fr. Agus Duka, Fr. Frans Funan, Fr. Ignas Ledot, and several other confreres often accompany the victims in the attempt to repatriate the victims back to Flores and Timor.

Furthermore, to inform more people of the problem, SVD Communication Commission of Ende Province, in addition to using the media such as Flores Pos Daily and Ledalero Publishing House, also uses theatre as a medium of conscientization and socialization. Under the coordination of Fr. Johan Wadu, one of the members of the Coordinating Team of the Communication Commission, a theatre entitled "Tungku Haram" was staged at the Syuradikara Ende High School stadium on Friday, November 11, 2017. The theatre which tells about the realities of human trafficking in Flores draws attention of thousands of spectators, both from the town of Ende and from outside the town.

As reported by Flores Post Daily November 13, 2017, many spectators were very impressed and touched by the action of the performers who are the students of SVD Ende's school, Syuradikara High School. In fact, according to Fr. Johan Wadu, there were a number of spectators who shed tears while watching the scenes of the story lifted from the Flores reality. Therefore, he asserted that the theatre must be one of the media of SVD proclamation, because it proved to be very effective to encourage people to be involved in the handling of social problems such as human trafficking.